NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- European cities rank high in both quality of life and safety, the Mercer Consulting Group said Wednesday in its annual survey.
Vienna is the most pleasant place to live, the group said, and Luxembourg is the safest. Zurich, Switzerland, was second in quality of life, followed by Auckland, New Zealand, and Munich, Germany. Another German city, Dusseldorf, and Canada's Vancouver, tied for fifth. When it comes to safety, after Zurich there was a three-way tie among Bern, Switzerland, Helsinki, Finland, and Zurich with Vienna fifth.
Mercer issues its annual Quality of Life Survey, which this year includes 221 cities, to help companies put together compensation packages for expatriate employees. This year, because of the turmoil around the world, the company decided to create a second ranking for safety.
Generally, cities that are high on one index are high on the other and vice versa. Baghdad is in the 221st spot on both.
"The top-ranking cities for personal safety and security are in politically stable countries with good international relations and relatively sustainable economic growth. Most of the low-scoring cities are in countries with, civil unrest, high crime levels and little law enforcement," said Slagin Parakatil, a senior researcher.
